Inside the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven, the fruit of the Cang Teng Tree cast its luminescent glow on the cave walls, where the shimmering reflections of the underground river equally adorned the surface, turning the Cave Heaven into a serene and exquisite realm.
Gu An strode to the Cang Teng Tree, turned around with hands akimbo, and gazed at the area he had cultivated with a satisfied smile on his face.
Effort yields rewards!
Immortal cultivation coupled with farming was his idea of romance!
All the fighting, scheming, and dirty politics could stay the hell away from him!
Content with himself, Gu An's gaze drifted away.
He wanted to build a pavilion inside the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven to occasionally retreat and rest.
He was still young now, but in fifty or sixty years, he would follow in the footsteps of the Cheng Xuan Pill and let his eldest disciple handle all affairs while he enjoyed life.
However, the selection of his eldest disciple was still a long way off; after all, Medicine Valley was his base, and it was imperative to find the right person. Not just anyone who became his disciple first could be trusted with managing everything.
Multiple plans began to form in Gu An's mind.
First, he needed to cultivate a Deputy Valley Master!
Xiaochuan was worth considering; his aptitude was poor, he was honest, but too blunt in his speech and dealings with people.
Lu Jiujia would sooner or later go to the Outer Sect, automatically ruled out.
Ye Lan...
No, better let her leave early to save his Dao Heart.
As for Wuxin, wait and see!
He needed to recruit more disciples!
While pondering, Gu An looked up.
He was quite curious about the Cang Teng Fruit; some of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures took the form of fruits. Would plucking the fruits of the Cang Teng Tree cause a surge in life span?
No sooner thought than done!
Gu An leaped up, reached for a fruit, and pulled it down.
He landed on the grass and examined the fruit in his hand, which was about the size of a pumpkin, weighing it and estimating it to be around seven or eight pounds.
Gu An pulled out a piece of Spirit-Protecting Paper from his Storage Pouch and wrapped the long stem of the fruit to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking and losing its nutrients.
These were all money!
About ten breaths later, a line of text appeared before him:
[You have successfully seized a Cang Teng Fruit (Tier Six), adding 85 years to your life span]
Well, I'll be damned!
85 years!
Gu An's view of the Cang Teng Tree changed.
This motherfucker was a money tree!
Absolutely must not uproot!
Must let it die naturally and nurture it well afterward!
Excited, Gu An tossed the Cang Teng Fruit into his Storage Pouch and then counted the tree. There were sixteen fruits as big as the one he just picked and he couldn't touch the smaller ones.
He immediately began to take action.
Some of the Cang Teng Fruits were high up, necessitating him to climb the tree.
At that moment, he eagerly wished for the Sword Control Technique.
At the Foundation Establishment Realm, he couldn't directly fly on his own, and he had no other means to fly or float.
After much effort, Gu An eventually harvested all sixteen Cang Teng Fruits and in total, gained 1,360 years of life span.
His total life span had now reached 8,400 years!
Closer and closer to the 10,000-year mark!
Enough!
Let's do it in one go!
After reaching 10,000 years, he could boost his cultivation level, then investigate the other seven cave entrances, clear out any potential dangers, and then he could live in peace for years to come.
Once Gu An had a plan, he began to implement it.
There was an abundance of medicinal herbs in the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven, and he focused on his Attribute Panel while harvesting, stopping only once he reached the 10,000-year life span.
Half an hour later, a prompt appeared before Gu An:
[Your life span has for the first time surpassed 10,000 years, unlocking the Life Span Barrier function]
[Life Span Barrier: Consumes life span to activate a barrier that shields against all spying, perception, and deductions. The amount of life span consumed depends on the aura of your cultivation level and the needed spiritual energy]
Life Span Barrier?
Seeing the words 'consume life span', Gu An frowned immediately; wasn't this asking for his life?
But after reading the explanation, he was immediately delighted.
The breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm had already caused much commotion; what would happen when he broke through to even higher realms?
If this continued, he would sooner or later alarm the entire Supreme Sect, which concerned Gu An.
Now, he had nothing to fear!
The feature was incredibly sturdy!
I love it!
Gu An chuckled as he walked toward the cave entrance.
Once he broke through to the Core Formation Realm, he would explore the other cave entrances.
Despite the Eight Scenic Cave Heaven being protected by formations, there could be dangers inside, so he decided to break through outside, the perfect chance to try out the Life Span Barrier.
Whatever was hiding in the shadows, he was not afraid!
By the time Gu An returned to Medicine Valley, it was late at night.
He had moved into the pavilion where Cheng Xuan Pill had lived, which still housed many secret manuals, pill guides, and rare books that he intended to read through over time.
After entering the house, Gu An came to a wooden cabinet; this cabinet was made from special wood designed to preserve as much of the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as possible, as Cheng Xuan Pill had instructed. There were several of these cabinets.
He took out all the Cang Teng Fruits and placed them inside the cabinet.
Then, something occurred to him, and he took out one more Cang Teng Fruit and placed it on the table.
He sat down at the table, pulled out the Thousand-Autumn Pavilion Secret History from his bosom, and read quietly.
Late into the night, the White Spirit Rat finally returned.
It scurried onto Gu An's shoulder, its small eyes fixed intently on the Cang Teng Fruit on the table.
Gu An gently picked it up and placed it on the table, then waited for its next move.
The White Spirit Rat approached the Cang Teng Fruit, sniffed its scent, then climbed on top and began to nibble at it lightly.
Gu An had no idea what magical effects the Cang Teng Fruit possessed, since the Hundred Herbs Record didn't list any heavenly materials and earthly treasures above tier five; he could only use the White Spirit Rat for a test.
He let the White Spirit Rat choose on its own, being a spirit beast, it should be able to smell if the Cang Teng Fruit was poisonous.
If it couldn't detect the poison, Gu An would give it a generous burial.
The Cang Teng Fruit was ten times larger than the White Spirit Rat, making it quite difficult for it to gnaw, and Gu An didn't help.
Waiting was boring; he might as well make a breakthrough tonight!
Gu An stood up, then stealthily left the loft, left Profound Valley without anyone noticing, and headed west, crossing mountains and ridges for nearly twenty miles.
First, he climbed to the top of a large tree and surveyed his surroundings in all directions, making sure there were no cultivators' figures or breaths around, before he finally sat down in a grassy area among the hills to meditate.
It had been a while since he last pushed his limits, and he was quite looking forward to it.
With the Life Span Barrier in place, Gu An could safely evolve his cultivation level.
"Let's try investing a thousand years first,"
Gu An thought, feeling extravagantly wealthy with ten thousand years of life span; what was a mere thousand years?
Merely a drop in the bucket!
He invested a thousand years of life span into his Cultivation Level to pursue energy cultivation.
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for thirty years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 8th Floor of the Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for one hundred years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 9th Floor of the Foundation Establishment Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for one hundred and fifty years, and with the Great Achievement of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully challenged the Core Formation Realm, began Crossing the Tribulation, but you did not endure the Minor Celestial Tribulation and failed.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for two hundred years, and with the Great Achievement of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully challenged the Core Formation Realm, began Crossing the Tribulation, but you did not endure the Minor Celestial Tribulation and failed.]
…
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for four hundred and fifty years, and with the Great Achievement of the Divine Wood Pure Yang Skill, you forcefully challenged the Core Formation Realm, began Crossing the Tribulation, and succeeded in enduring the Minor Celestial Tribulation, forming a Golden Core and entering the Core Formation Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for five hundred years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 2nd Floor of the Core Formation Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for six hundred years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 3rd Floor of the Core Formation Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for seven hundred and twenty years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 4th Floor of the Core Formation Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for eight hundred and fifty years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 5th Floor of the Core Formation Realm.]
[You have cultivated Qi Absorption for one thousand years, and your Cultivation Level has broken through to the 6th Floor of the Core Formation Realm.]
Line after line of prompts crazily popped up in front of Gu An's eyes.
Seeing the six failed attempts at Crossing the Tribulation before, Gu An could barely catch his breath; this was just too unlucky, wasn't it?
Was crossing the tribulation really that difficult?
As the last line of the prompt dropped, Gu An's body began to operate on its own, and he immediately felt a surge of nature's spiritual energy about to erupt. He quickly activated the Life Span Barrier.
[Life Span Barrier activated, Life Span consumed: 0 years]
This line of the prompt hung directly before his eyes, and when nature's spiritual energy flooded into his body, the number 0 immediately jumped to 1.
"Hope the consumption isn't too great…"
Gu An silently prayed.
With the vast influx of nature's spiritual energy pouring crazily into his body, he felt an indescribable sense of refreshment and clarity.
This time, he didn't move while making the breakthrough, so he didn't feel any pain.
Centered around him, waves of Qi rolled across the ground from all directions, burrowing into his body, and one could faintly see an invisible Qi Barrier nearly fifteen zhang in diameter.
Gu An looked outside the Barrier and saw that outside, not a single blade of grass stirred, all was peaceful, clearly unaffected by his breakthrough.
He immediately grew curious. Why was there no effect?
He soon understood.
Once the Barrier was activated, the spiritual energy he absorbed during cultivation came from under the ground.
Now he was completely at ease.
Before long, his Cultivation Level reached the 9th Floor of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the Life Span consumed by the Barrier reached five years, which made him somewhat heartache.
This thing was too costly!
It reminded him of his experiences playing some mobile games in his previous life.
In one word, predatory!
Just as Gu An was inwardly grumbling, he suddenly saw a bright light in the distant mountains, and squinting his eyes, he could vaguely make out a scene of cultivators in combat.
Ten miles away.
Above the mountains, Shi Yang wielded his sword sending out streams of Sword Qi, like a fierce wind sweeping through the forest, with leaves swirling in chaos.
Dressed in black, Li Ya stood atop a tree, holding his sword before him, bursting forth with powerful Qi Force that formed a pale golden clock shadow around him, blocking all of Shi Yang's Sword Qi.
Shi Yang's black hair whipped wildly in the wind, and he wore a ferocious and defiant smile as he laughed loudly, "Li Ya, is that the extent of your abilities? Just you wanting to compete with the Prince? Do you think you can even make it into the Inner Sect alive?"
Li Ya had an icy expression. His gaze flicked toward the direction of Profound Valley.
This won't do!
Continuing this way would alarm the people of Medicine Valley.
Li Ya didn't want to bring trouble to Gu An and the others. He immediately thrust his sword, dispersing the Sword Qi, then flew in the opposite direction of Profound Valley. Shi Yang pursued him relentlessly, and both men rode their swords away, quickly disappearing beyond the night sky.
Gu An, within the Life Span Barrier, didn't see clearly the cultivators fighting in the distance, but fortunately, the lights had vanished.
He dared not let his guard down; while the Life Span Barrier precluded probing, perception, and deduction, it didn't mean it was entirely void, what if someone stumbled into it accidentally?
Time passed quickly as Gu An fretted.
His body began forming a Golden Core!
When the Life Span consumed by the Barrier exceeded fifty years, he was successful in Core Formation!
Although the consumption of the Life Span Barrier was high, it was within what Gu An could accept.
Before starting, he had worried whether this thing would be a trap that would drain him all at once?
Now, his worries were gone like smoke in the air.
Another thought struck him.
A thousand years had brought him to the 6th Floor of the Core Formation Realm; should he continue to push his limits?